2. amps-preamps
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Is my Onkyo Receiver toast?

I have an Onkyo HT-R290 Receiver, which I believe is low end. I know nothing of the internals, only that it works (or used to now).

Today I started by putting on some music, played from my phone through a 3.5mm - 2xRCA cable.

At first I didn't notice the problem, music was playing fine. But after about 20 minutes I had to turn it off. At the higher volumes - anything above 30 - I had a really strange noise coming from the speakers. The song plays fine, but it seems like any sound between 2000-8000 HZ is magnified. This results in a migraine causing noise, as if the volume was at 70 with those levels.

I tried diagnosing the problem myself, and here's what I tried:
- Disabled all equalizer, effects, additional audio options. Basically just the naked sound coming from the audio source.
- Switched to a different source... Streamed the music from my phone to my Chromecast (to eliminate the cable).
- Turned off all ESP, effects, etc from my phone as well.
- Took a 50ft long 3.5mm cable and went directly to my receiver from my PC in another room.

All of this done, I still have that annoying sound. I tried different songs, different artists, games, everything.

I'm not sure if it's the receiver or the speakers themselves, I have no other speakers to test the receiver with unfortunately.

I've added a recording using my phone, I'm unsure if it will be heard properly.

You can hear the noise I hear best when Brandon Boyd is singing, around 30-50 seconds in.

It's not as loud in the audio clip as it is in person.

http://www.filedropper.com/record0001
mpelley92

Showing 1 response by mb1audio

mb1audio
151 posts
 
Here's a few things to look at.

Try listening through headphones. If you get the noise, it will eliminate the speakers.

Check all your cables. Look for any type of damage to the cables and the connectors.

Turn off all components that are not in use and unplug everything that shares same circuit.

Check for grounding problems.

" Took a 50ft long 3.5mm cable and went directly to my receiver from my PC in another room. "

Look very carefully at any cables with 3.5mm mini jack connectors. They're not all the same size and configuration. If you don't have the right connector, you can get a hum just like what you are talking about. This is something very few people know about, and is almost always overlooked. Go through this web page and. It shows all the different connectors.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_connector_(audio)

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